In the evolutionary ladder from System Shock to Bioshock and onwards, "Prey" for now is the crowning jewel. For now, game design, story telling and gameplay in a bioshock-like hasn't gotten better than Prey.
And allready hard locked in a screen that does not go further, no matter what you do, with noexplanation whatsoever.
Songs of conquest is a game that finally took up the flame and formula of HoMaM 3 and brought it into modernity. Less quirky and high fantasy, but therefore more medieval, flexible and grimmer (but not grim dark, just way more dark fantasy than high fantasy). The gameplay is fantastic, addictive, easy to learn, hard to master and the difficulty curve will have you use all your strategic capabilities.
By that I don't mean this is the best game of all time. However, for what it is and tries to be, the game is basically perfect. It is an engaging, fun, clever and at the end surprisingly challenging puzzle game in the guise of a city builder. The retro-futuristic cyber punk / art déco reminiscing of Metropolis aesthetic is innovative, new and perfectly implemented. The story is interesting, neither trodden out nor overshadowing the gameplay. All in all a next to perfect puzzle game, a true gem!
So let's get the obvious out-of-the-way first: This game - painfully obviously - tries to be the next Bioshock. It fails miserably at that but because this goal was the first and foremost thing to achieve for the developers, there is nothing else left. During loading screens, there is an advice stating something along the lines of "before using a healing potion, maybe look around first if there is any food to consume". ... ... ... There is no food to consume in this entire game. This is the level of lacking polish and structure the game is. Not even the loading screens are accurate.
It's a nice terra forming sim with good artwork and interesting mechanics. However, the game is unpolished. There is not enough to do and too much repetition for the length of the story campaign. The gameplay is fun, but the game is just soooooo slow very quickly and will never put up speed again until it is finished. I managed to embrace this and turned the game into an interactive screen saver. While I was working, I went back to the screen a couple times, let the game idle and listen to the story bits and managed to finish the game with minimal interaction at the end. Again, the game is not bad. If you are interested in the genre and different ways to approach it, it is a good experience. But it has its flaws.
I would describe it as a cozy kind of city builder. Not nearly as deep as Surviving Mars or similar, but a functional game that scratches the itch of a sci-fi city builder without exhausting you. Easy to play alongside having a serious on or while relaxing. It is good for what it is.
This game is a point and click adventure in the style of a hidden object game. However, the production value is much higher. There is a proper story with an element of looking for clues and exploring the story for yourself. There are proper cutscenes and an actual story that holds up. One of the best games of the genre, even though it drags out at the end and could be a bit shorter, it still is an absolute recommendation!
The game is not really difficult. It has not an engaging story and it is completed rather quickly. It consists of simple puzzles and looking for hidden objects. However, it has a nice, whimsical story. The artwork is inoffensive and cosy and the world it creates is charming and completely devoid of stress.
The game looks and feels pretty funny and the beginning is intriguing. You build up a small settlement, discover the world, explore new technologies, build more facilities. All that is town building standard fun. However, the game implemented a few features that make it deliberately, artificially slow and tedious. You need to micromanage the flow of ressources between diefferent islands on the same planet, need to build the same base facilities on one island over and over again until you reach the space ship, rinse and repeat. It is actually a shame, because as promising the first hour of the game is, as boring and ultimately a chore it becomes quickly after.
